Put me down as another teacher retiring because of COVID-19

[teach1st]

Put me down as another teacher retiring because of COVID-19. The upcoming school year was going to be my last, and I was honored to be able to go with last year's class to their next grade this coming year. I would have been with them for two years. By any objective measure, it is a tough class: Autistic, ODD, four diagnosed ADDH. But I love them, and I really looked forward to being with them again. We made great gains last year, both academically and socially, and as any teacher knows, the tough classes can be the most rewarding.

But I teach in Florida, a state controlled by Republicans who see putting kids in school as an economic and campaign issue, not as an ill-advised safety issue. At my age, I'm in an at-risk group. I don't see a safe way for me to be in a classroom with students, and I had no guarantees that I could teach virtual. I applied for retirement last week. It was hard for me to say goodbye to the kids and parents, especially via posts and a video on our Class Dojo, not in person. It was hard to say goodby to my career when I wasn't ready.